einz, zwei, drei

I haven't been sick in a long time. This week, a little surprise of a cough has taken hold of me. I tried to beat it down last night with a five-mile run. That was woefully bad strategy. I came home and realized it hurt to breathe. And the cough has been getting worse. And sleep eluded me last night like so many things. I even got into bed before 2 A.M. -- a wonder of earliness for me.

I breathe shallowly today. Hoping to avoid awakening the cough. I have been remanded to that weakened position of tiptoeing round the fact of things. I suppose another, more confident girl might cough proudly. Might spray the faces of her lunch companions with her aspirated chewings and then laugh, in that half laugh-half cough sort of way. But I -- meekly -- choose to suppress. I would prefer that the world not know I suffer from any sort of ailment. Pink lipstick helps with the illusion.